Silver Lining
by blairderouge
Summary: Eclipse. Just when Bella thought Forks had reached it's supernatural capacity, a strange family move to town. They're not like others, with horrific pasts and bloody secrets. But Dexter seems different from his family.. mostly canon. T for implied lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**Nothing is mine... ;)**

**Bold is Bella, **_italics are Edward._

I was sitting in English, bored out of my mind. I was sitting next to Edward, godly perfection.

**I'm so bored, **I wrote in my messy scrawl. I tossed the note over to my perfect vampire boyfriend.

_Bella you should really be concentrating. Finals are coming up soon, you know_. He wrote back, disapprovingly.

**Screw finals, am I really going to need them after I join the living dead? **I wrote jokingly.

_Not funny, Bella. And still, finals are important. _

**Entertain me.**

_How?_

**I don't know. Please? I'm bored.**

_Okay, I think you are the most wonderful, beautiful person that I have ever met in my hundred years. I love you more than anyone would think possible. Happy?_

**No. I already know that... tell me something I don't know.**

_Alice just had a vision of two high school kids being arrested by Officer Swan._

**Really? Who are they? **I looked over at him curiously.

_I've seen them around the hospital, but I don't know names. _

**Oh. that's strange. Anything else?**

_Well Mike is going over ways to woo you in his mind. He is so irritating; I wish I could just snap his neck for even thinking of doing that to you…_

**Doing what?**

_Nothing. Its nothing, love. _

Just then the bell sounded. I gathered my books.

"So who were these kids that Charlie arrested?" I asked, just to get Edward to stop glaring at Mike, who was looking like he feared for his life as Edward scowled murderously at him with his onyx eyes.

"The adopted kids of the new doctor in town, dr. Romulan." he explained calmly. "I recognised one of them from the hospital." I raised my eyebrows.

"Wait, a new doctor in town, with adopted kids…? Sounds familiar," I commented, grinning at Edwards sudden smiles.

"That's what I thought. Only I'm 100% sure these kids aren't vampires. Its just a normal family with a few adopted kids. A few adopted kids with issues," he grinned.

He took my hand and we strolled to the cafeteria.

* * *

><p><strong>Later that night, in Bella's room. <strong>

I was lying on my bed, in Edward's cold arms, not being able to sleep, yet again. It was impossible to sleep when it felt like I had electric currents racing through my body…

"Still awake, love?" Edward purred in my ear. I shivered.

"Are you too cold? I could leave…" he began. Did he not know that with him, I never shivered from the cold…?

"No! don't! I just don't feel like sleeping right now…" I sighed.

"What do you want to do then, love?" he said, nuzzling my neck. I shivered again. "I love it when you shiver like that," he said softly.

"Edward you know what I want to do," I said, kissing his neck softly. This time he shivered.

"Quite contrary to what you might think Bella," he gulped. I loved seeing him like this. "Now is not the time to discuss your future as one of the eternally damned…"

"Edward you know that's not what I was talking about…" I said as he tried to dodge it.

He kissed my hair. "I was actually hoping it was. It's a much easier subject to discuss with you," he chuckled.

"So what do you think?" I asked, breathing heavily. I slid my hand under his t-shirt, and he didn't stop me. Wow. This was the furthest we'd ever gone without him stopping… was this really happening?

"I think… that I'll have to think about it." he smiled crookedly, and took the hand that was attempting to remove his shirt.

He. Said. That. He. Would. Think. About. It.

Wow.

That was Edward-speak for 'soon'.

"Really?" I asked in disbelief.

"Bella, you think that it's your blood sings to me the most. But you need to know that as much as I hate to admit it and put you in danger, your body sings to me maybe even more than your blood, believe it or not. I'm not sure if I can control myself any longer!"

I was shocked, and stuck for words. It seemed that I was going to get what I wanted, and not have to deal with any of that marriage nonsense along the way!

"Well Edward, you know how I feel about the subject, whenever your ready I'm ready." I said, to not sound like a sex-crazed pervert. "I don't want to rush you into anything you're not ready for, or are uncomfortable with…"

Edward stared at me for a moment. "You think I wont sleep with you because _I'm not ready?_ Bella, Bella, Bella, if that was the case I would have-" he stopped, realising what he was saying. Ah, poor Edward, always wanting to be the gentleman. "Never mind."

Just then I just happened to yawn. "Bella I think you should go to sleep. School in the morning."

"But I want to continue this conversation, I feel like we're making tons of progress!"

"In the morning, love, we can discuss this further. Now you have to sleep."

I couldn't disagree any longer, my eyelids felt heavy and my mind was clouded with fog.

"Okay, 'Night Edward, I love you," I whispered as I drifted off to sleep.

The last thing that I heard was "I love you too, Bella, my love. Sleep well."


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up to the sound of Charlie's police cruiser leaving at around 7 am. I looked around. Edward was gone, probably home to change his clothes and get his car. I smiled. Remembering the last night.

He said 'soon'.

I jumped in the shower, and then got dressed, throwing on some old jeans and a flannel shirt. I stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen. Grabbing a granola bar and a glass of orange juice, I sat down at the table waiting for Edward to come pick me up for school.

Just then the doorbell rang. I skipped over to the door, struggling with the deadbolt for a moment. I opened the door to see Edwards's perfection smiling at me.

"Hi," I breathed. He took my hand and we walked over to his car.

I got into the front seat. Edward looked at me, smiling.

"You know how you hate Trig?" he asked once we were on the road.

"Yeah?" I said suspiciously.

"Well how would you feel if I could have us both transferred into a Differentiation class instead?" he said raising an eyebrow.

"No way!" I exclaimed... "That would be awesome! How?"

"Well I pulled a few strings… so are you up for it?"

"Eh yeah?" I said, rolling my eyes. "When do I get to change?"

"Today, if you want? Just go pick up a timetable at the front office and tell them you're exchanging. They already know." he grinned.

He pulled up into the student lot. Alice, of course, was waiting for us.

"Hi guys!" she said excitedly. "Excited about your new class? Called and transferred as soon as I saw you were moving! It's going to be so cool to be in class with you and Edward!"

"Um yeah, I can't wait," I slowly. I spotted Mr. Varner walking from his car. I decided that I should probably inform him that I was leaving his class.

"Good idea," said Alice approvingly. "He would have been wondering where you were today!"

"I'll come too, since I'm moving as well!" said Edward.

"Fine I'll come too, if you're going to insist…" Alice said again.

God, I don't know how I'm going to stand it spending a whole eternity with the fortune teller and the mind reader having all of these weird half conversations all of the time…

I walked up to Varner. I told him, and he seemed surprisingly happy to hear my news. I was a bit insulted, actually. When he left, Alice burst out laughing.

"Il était de bonne humeur. Sa femme lui avait probablement donné quelques preuves d'amour la nuit précédente*!" she said, and dissolved into giggles again. Edward raised his eyebrows.

"Bang on, Alice, you're actually right!" and he burst out laughing as well.

"Erm, hello? Care to share your little joke?" I said, annoyed. "Not everyone here is fluent in Flemish, you know!"

"Bella, Bella, Bella, firstly, it's French, and secondly it's not suitable for your virgin ears!" Alice said. I knew she was joking when she laughed again, but I blushed anyway.

"But you told Edward, and last I checked…" I began mumbling, but I was cut off by the sound of Jasper's howling laughter behind us. I glanced over at Edward. He wasn't smiling anymore… he was glaring at Jasper, who wound his arm around Alice's slender frame. I didn't even want to know what either of them was thinking.

"Anyways, Edward, I have to go get my schedule. I'll see you in class?" I said, changing the subject. Edward's expression softened.

"Okay, love, I'll see you then," he said, kissing my head, and then walked away with Alice and Jasper.

I walked into the office to get my new timetable. As I pushed open the door, I was stunned to see who was standing at the desk chatting to the receptionist. I picked up in the gist of the conversation.

"…so your first class is History. You take a left turn at the main building, and continue on until you see the…"

Leah Clearwater was a new student at Forks High? I would recognise her tall, muscular body, her dark russet shin and long silky black hair even from behind. Why was she transferring from the school on the Rez? She was in her final year, what's the point of changing schools this late in the term?

After the initial shock of seeing Leah here of all people, I started to notice that she looked funny.

She wasn't wearing her typical Leah attire… she wore a long white t-shirt dress clenched with a wide belt at the waist, and black leggings instead of her usual jeans-and-t-shirt combo. Wow, she must be re-inventing herself, I thought. Good for her. It must be hard for her, with the recent death of her father and being the only female werewolf in her pack…

Suddenly she turned around. I gasped when I saw her face.

"Oh and Vivian?" Ms. Cope said to the girl who was obviously not Leah. "Give my best luck to your family!"

"Thank you, miss, I will." The tall girl said.

She had the native-American looks, but her face was different to Leah's.

Her expression was harsh. She had high cheekbones, and a strong jaw line. She had all of the typical Native American features, dark skin, dark hair, defined bone structure… but not the dark eyes. Her eyes were a really weird colour… almost black at the edge of the iris, and then just at the pupil they were a really light green, almost white. It struck me as odd; her eyes reminded me of chocolate-chip mint ice-cream.

She glanced over in my direction and strode past me out of the office building.

I walked up to the desk.

"I'm here to pick up my new timetable, and to inform you that I'm changing from Trig to Differentiation?" I said to Ms Cope. She smiled warmly at me.

"Here you go, dear. And I already have you registered. Mr. Hanley knows you're joining his class this afternoon. Have you met our newest students? The Romulans?" she asked kindly. I shook my head. "Well they seem like a lovely bunch of kids. A bit rowdy, mind…" she trailed off, checking something on her computer. "Well, I hope you enjoy your new class, honey. Have a nice day!"

I walked out to building four, where I had my first class, biology. I took a seat beside Edward, as usual.

"Edward, I just thought one of the new kids was Leah Clearwater!" I whispered. "I was about to say hi, but then I was like _not her! _That could have been embarrassing!"

"That must be the Native American Romulan girl. Alice thought it was Leah, too, when she saw her in a vision, but then she remembered that she couldn't see wolves," he rolled his eyes. "Typical fluffy headed Alice,"

I noticed that a new student was talking to Mr. Banner at his desk. He was obviously signing the slip that had to be signed by every teacher on a new students first day. I remembered my first day, in this very class, when I first saw Edward. Sure, he was fighting the urge not to rip my throat out, but it was still the day that my life changed forever. I smiled fondly at Edward. He grinned back at me, and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"This new guy is pretty nervous. His sister was supposed to be in this class with him, but she's sick today, so he has to face it alone. He's dreading this, he hates biology,"

It was always nice to have Edward around, to give me an in-depth reading of a person's inner workings. From the looks of this boy, I would have never guessed that he was nervous. He had a certain dominant air about him; the way he held his tall body said it all. He had longish, flicky dark blonde hair, and a face that would be considered handsome by anyone's standards. Anyone's but mine, of course, no one would ever compare to Edward for me. I glanced over to where Lauren was sitting. She was re-applying a thick, sludgy lip-gloss, and I could see her in my mind rushing off to the bathrooms after class to stuff her bra with toilet paper. Edward looked over as well, and grinned, so she must be thinking something absurd.

"Students," Mr Banner said, while stacking a pile of papers. "This is Dexter Romulan. You can take a seat right here, Dexter, and open your textbook to page 94." he said gesturing to a desk in the middle of the room.

The class passed uneventfully.

Soon it was time for lunch. I walked to the cafeteria with Edward and Alice. Alice was chatting animatedly about a makeover that she was planning for me. I was half listening, half obsessing over Edward's _soon._

I was still stunned... it was so unlike Edward...

As soon as I walked into the cafeteria, I had extreme déjà vu of my first day at Forks High, in the cafeteria.

There we four of them this time. No way nearly as stunning as the Cullen's had been that first day, but they were attractive enough.

The Romulans.

I recognised Vivian, the tall Native American girl, and Dexter, the blonde floppy haired guy from biology. The other two were also boys, although they looked a collage-going age. One was tall, dark, and Latino. His jet-black hair hung loosely around his face. His muscles were visible under his tight grey t-shirt, and he was eating an apple while saying something to Gala, who was smiling and nodding. The other boy was tall, and also muscular, yet lanky. He had dark brown hair which was hanging in front of his eyes. He had a very light natural tan and, was looking very bored, like the concept of school bored him to death. He raked his fingers through his hair and looked up at the roof of the cafeteria. I noticed his eyes were very dark in colour, and menacing.

"Oh the new kids!" Alice squealed. "Look! Everyone has something new to stare at!"

It was true. Everyone in the room was gawking at the four newcomers, instead of at the beautiful vampires.

"Lauren and Jessica are going to approach them in thirty seconds. Let's sit down and get front row seats to the show!" Alice squeaked. She skidded off towards our table. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Nothing interesting is going to happen, Bella. Alice is just excited that there's a new family in town with as many adopted children as us, so we'll seem more normal. And I don't think they appreciate being stared at; the brown haired boy especially; he's very paranoid at the moment!" he chuckled and placed items of food on my tray.

We went back to sit at our table. As usual, Rosalie was ignoring me, Emmett was playing with his food, and Jasper was looking at Alice with utter devotion.

Edward was chatting to Emmett about a new hunting spot while I ate. I had that feeling that someone was watching me.

I glanced behind me, to see Dexter Romulan looking at me with the most penetrating eyes that I had ever seen. They were so light that they looked nearly white, but must have been a light grey. Vivian was staring at me as well, with her strange chocolate-chip mint ice-cream eyes. When they saw me looking, Vivian looked at Dexter and said something, and he smiled and returned to looking at his food.

I looked over at Edward. He looking was at me with a soft expression.

"What was she saying to Dexter?" I asked. Why was he laughing at me?

"He was thinking that you had nice hair, and then when you looked at him that you had beautiful eyes. The girl told him to stop staring or I might beat him up," he chuckled.

"Wait, which ones were the ones who were arrested by Charlie?" I asked.

"The brown haired boy and the Latino boy," Alice piped up. "They were fighting. Someone called the cops. They got off with a warning,"

"Oh," I said, and returned to eating my pizza. My mind wandered to my conversation with Edward last night… and how I was going to make a special effort to look good tonight, so hopefully his _soon_ will become a _now_. I smiled happily when the bell went, and walked off to class with Edward in a daze, planning out exactly what I was going to try tonight.

I wasn't watching where I was going, so it came as an utter shock to me when I bumped into someone, and not only dropped all of my books, but also knocked all of theirs. If it wasn't for Edward catching me, I would have fallen flat on my ass. I looked up to see a very bewildered looking Christian Batons.

"I'm… I'm so sorry!" I stuttered, blushing violently. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and I…"

"It's okay," he said with a slight Californian accent. "I should have been watching where I was going,"

I looked at him. His eyes weren't grey as I had thought earlier, but light baby blue speckled with the same mint-ice cream colour as Vivian. A very unusual colour, almost hypnotising...

Edward bent down to pick up my books, and so did Dexter, breaking his spell over me. Edward had my books stacked in a neat pile before Dexter even reached the ground. He stacked his own books sloppily and grabbed them. He stood up.

"Dexter Romulan," he said, reaching his hand out to me to shake, smiling hugely. Wow, he had a big mouth, but not in an unattractive way. Just a friendly way.

"Bella Swan," I replied, taking his hand. "and this is Edward Cullen, my boyfriend." I added the last part to reassure Edward.

"Nice to meet you both. Well I have to run off to class, I wouldn't want no tardy slips on my first day now, would I, darlin?" he said, and sauntered down the hallways.

Edward looked at me and grinned. "I like him," he said. "He's the only male in this school that decided to not hit on you, love!"

"Why? What do the other boys think?" I asked. What the hell were they thinking?

"Never mind, love, let's get to class," he dodged.

We arrived in English, but all through the class I couldn't concentrate. All I could think about was about tonight, and how I might just finally get what I want…


	3. Chapter 3

Edward gave me a lift home from school, as usual. He left me off at the house, and then went over to his to collect Alice. They were going hunting directly after school. The only reason for that that I could think of was that Edward wasn't taking any chances with me tonight.

I smiled and waved as I watched Edward drive off. Was tonight the night? I really hoped so.

I ran upstairs to get ready for tonight. I stripped off my clothes and jumped in the shower. I scrubbed every inch of myself until I was pink, and shaved my legs carefully. I really didn't want to cut myself by accident, as that might have monstrous consequences later on tonight, no matter how well I bandaged it up.

While I was shampooing my hair, I heard the phone ringing. Typical. I knew that if I got out and rushed down to get it, it would stop ringing the minute that I reached it, so I let it ring. If it was important they'd call back.

I got out and dried myself. I sprayed myself with the perfume Renee had gotten me for my last birthday, even though technically I already smelled good to Edward. It was a comfort thing. I looked through my underwear drawer. I officially had nothing sexy to wear… I was sifting through them, deciding which were the least mortifying, when I heard the light tap on the window.

I froze. Was Edward early? I wasn't ready! Or was I…? I glanced down at the red towel that wrapped itself around my body. Not the worst think in the world to be wearing at a time like this…

"Keep your panties on, Bella, it's only me!" Alice said, climbing in my window, carrying a small package.

She loped over to my bed and sat down. "I called, but no-one answered. So I decided to come over myself!"

I wrapped my towel around my body self-consciously, and blushed. Alice didn't seem to notice my mortification.

"There are two reasons that I'm here, Bella," she began, knowing that I was about to ask that question. "The first is to tell you that our family has been invited to have dinner with Carlisle's new friend, Sergio Romulan, tonight. Edward didn't want to go, apparently he was going to spend the evening with you," she winked at me, "but Carlisle is forcing him. And, of course, it would be nice if at least one of us could actually eat the food that his wife has been preparing, so you're coming too. And the second reason that I'm here," she said, not even waiting for my response, "is to give you these," she said, gesturing to the white package that she had placed on my bed.

"Alice, you know how I don't like gifts…" I began.

"Bella, you'll thank me for these!" she squealed, and handed me the package. I reluctantly accepted it.

I removed the wrappings, to see a pair of deep blue lacy underpants, and a matching lacy bra. I immediately blushed, but was relieved at the same time. I looked up at Alice and tried to figure out something to say.

"A simple 'thank you Alice, you have the best choices, I'm so lucky to have you' will suffice!" she smirked.

"Thank you Alice, you have the best choices, I'm so lucky to have you!" I said. She smiled, and got up.

"I know Edward is very partial to that colour blue on you. I saw you bumbling round searching for something to wear, so I decided you needed my divine intervention!" she laughed. "But now, I have to go. Edward will pick you up at seven. Be ready!" she pecked me on the cheek and disappeared out the window.

Thank god for Alice. I put on my new underwear, and inspected myself in the mirror. They were just the right size, and I must admit, liked them. They hugged my curves, and the ruffled detail made me look like I had a fuller figure. I walked into my room once again and went to pick out what to wear.

How was I expected to dress for dinner at the Romulan's? What was everyone else going to wear? I decided to go casual, and wear jeans and a t-shirt. Suddenly I heard the phone ringing downstairs again. I rushed down to get it.

"Don't you dare wear that awful outfit!" Alice screamed down the phone. "Look in your wardrobe, I hung one up for you." and the phone went dead. I sighed.

I went back up to my room, and sure enough, there was a brand new outfit hanging in there, still swinging, which I was sure was not there the last time I checked. I sighed again, and put it on.

It was a typical Alice outfit. A high wasted black and grey can-can type skirt with layers of white ruffles underneath, which came to just above my knees. It was a bit too short for my liking, but I didn't want another phone call from Alice, so I just put it on. The top was a fitted black long-sleeved v-neck, which I tucked into the skirt. The outfit didn't look bad, I just felt a little uncomfortable in it.

I glanced at my clock. 5.15. I still had three quarters of an hour to kill.

I decided to do something I never usually did. I looked in the drawer where I kept the make-up that had been given to me by relatives who obviously didn't know me very well. It was all unused.

I picked out some mascara and lip-gloss. I didn't dare try any of the eyeliner, I knew I'd just make a mess of my face if I attempted to use it.

When that was done I decided to put on a load of laundry, just to kill some time. Before I knew it, I heard a knock at the door.

I skipped over and got it. To my surprise, it was Jasper, not Edward, who greeted me.

"H-hello, Jasper," I stuttered.

"Hello, Bella. Edward wants you to know that he'll be meeting you at the Romulan'. I'll be giving you a lift." he said politely.

I followed him to his car, which I had never seen him drive, and got in. I knew that it should have been a very awkward trip, but I felt comfortable all of the way. God bless Jasper and his gift.

He pulled up at a medium sized white house on the edge of town. It had a very homely look about it, enclosed in a white picket fence, and the garden was nicely tended.

Jasper parked in the driveway next to two other cars, one of which I recognised as Edward's Volvo, and the other as Carlisle's Mercedes.

Me and Jasper walked up the steps together. I knew I should be nervous, but I wasn't.

He knocked on the door twice, and it was opened by a woman who looked like she was in her mid-twenties, wearing a light blue summer dress and a pink apron. She had long, mahogany hair and vivid cobalt eyes. She smiled warmly.

"Hello, dears, you must be Jasper and Bella. I'm Freyja. You're just in time!" she sand, with a slight accent.

I followed Jasper into the house. It was spacious, and well furnished. It smelled of delicious home cooking, but I swear that when I looked over at Jasper he looked like he gagged a little. I smiled to myself. How was a dinner party going to work with seven vampires?

We walked into a large open dining room. Edward and the Cullens were already seated, except for Esme, who was carrying a large pot, and Carlisle, who was nowhere to be seen. I also saw the kids from school, Vivian, Dexter, the brown haired boy and the Latino boy, along with another, a small and pale looking girl with limp blonde hair tied into a loose bun, and sunken brown eyes. I guessed that she was the girl who had been sick for the first day. She sure looked like death warmed up.

"Sit right here, dear," Freyja said to me, gesturing to the empty seat beside Edward. "Have you met the family?" she asked. I shook my head.

"I met Dexter," was all I could manage. I could feel Vivian's cold eyes staring at me again. I blushed heavily.

"Yeah, we ran into each other, didn't we?" he joked. Freyja smiled fondly at him.

"Well this here is Vivian, and you know Dexter. Those two trouble makers over there are Vince and Rocco," she said, looking at the boys, who were arguing silently. They stopped for a moment and nodded at me. "And last, but not least, this is Pandore." The girl with the dark, sunken eyes looked up at me and smiled meekly. "She's recovering from a nasty bout of flu at the moment."

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," I choked out awkwardly. Suddenly, I heard the front door slam.

"That should be the men coming home from work." Freyja smiled as she went into the kitchen to grab a bowl.

A tall man with Mediterranean looks entered the room. He looked like he was in his early thirties, and was well built. Behind him was Carlisle. They were laughing as they entered.

"Hello kids," the tall man said in a booming voice, before giving Freyja a kiss. He looked over at Carlisle's family and me. "I'm Sergio Romulan,"

He sat down at the head of the table. Carlisle sat beside him.

"Okay, dears, dinner is served!" chimed Freyja.


	4. Chapter 4

The dinner was awkward.

I could see that none of the vampires were enjoying their meal. I could see that Freyja saw that as well. She her kind blue eyes were watchful, she could see that the Cullens were at unease. She kept asking if she could get anyone anything else to eat, and once I saw Jasper nearly answer her, but Alice glared at him and Edward kicked him under the table. I stifled a giggle, and Vivian shot me a murderous glance to shut me up. It worked.

I made an effort to look like I was enjoying the meal, which wasn't hard, in all fairness. Freyja was an amazing cook.

We were eating roast lamb and potatoes, and sauce garnished it to give it a really unique taste. I made a mental note to ask for the recipe after dinner.

Conversation between Esme, Carlisle, Freyja and Sergio was easy and light. From listening in I learned that Sergio and Freyja had been married for eight years, and lived on a farm in Montana with the kids up until now. Freyja was Norwegian ans twenty-nine years old, and Sergio was of Italian decent and was thirty-three, and they met in a café in Denmark years ago.

In stark contrast, the Cullen kids and the Romlan kids conversation was strained. Emmett and the tall Mexican boy, who I assumed was Rocco, talked about hunting for a while. Emmett had a smug smile on his face knowing that he could out hunt anyone without even any weapons, but Rocco had a peculiar smile on his face as well, a smile that I didn't fully trust. I don't know why I felt that, all I know is that I didn't like it.

Jasper talked uneasily to Vince, until Vince got distracted by Rocco, and they started arguing again. They were both quite explosive and intense.

I noticed Rocco's eyes for the first time since meeting him. They wouldn't have caught my attention if they were on anyone else at the table, but they just stood out so strongly on him. Since Rocco was Latino, I would have thought that he would have the typical dark eyes. He instead had a strange blend of what looked like dark brown, but with a sheen of a light bluey green over it, giving it a nearly milky hue over the black base. It made him look blind.

Vivian and Pandore chatted to themselves, as did Rosalie and Alice, occasionally speaking to each other about designer brands or shoes. Pandore looked as if she was going to throw up any moment, but I noticed that she ate a lot for such a small girl. Come to think of it, they all did in that family. The portions were huge, much to the Cullens' despair. Rosalie had to leave the table on two occasions to presumably choke it up. The others just grinned and bore it and pretended to enjoy the meal.

During the course of the meal I spoke mostly to Edward and Dexter. Dexter was so nice and easy to talk to, he reminded me a bit of Jacob. He also reminded me of an actor I had once seen in a movie about a stuntman, I couldn't recall the name of the movie, but the leading man and Dexter had the same large mouth. It made him look like such a nice person, like he was chatty. And he really was.

We talked about movies and music, I couldn't really join in in the conversation about the latter as Edward and him just talked about music that I had never heard of. I just nodded and smiled. Dexter had such an obscure music taste.

When it came time to leave, everyone had loosened up. Freyja hugged everyone goodbye, Rocco gave a small salute and smiled and Vince gave a crooked smile as they said their goodbyes, and then the two boys returned to bickering. Vivian nodded in recognition and Pandore gave a huge grin, the first I had seen all night, and I wondered if she was feeling better. Dexter and Sergio walked us to our cars, and as I got into Edward's Volvo, Dexter grabbed my hand.

"See you in school tomorrow, Bella," he breathed in my ear.

"Okay, I'll see you then, then," I choked out. He pecked me on the cheek as I got into the car. I smiled awkwardly at him as we drove off. Edward had either not noticed that last thing or just didn't care, as he didn't say anything about it. That gave me a knot in my stomach. Edward noticed everything.

He drove me straight to my house, and dropped me off at the front porch. He kissed me on the cheek and whispered "I'll be around later, love."

I walked in to see Charlie watching sports on the television.

"Hey Bells," he greeted me. "Did you have fun at dinner?"

"Yeah, sure, the Romlans are lovely people," I answered simply.

"I hope you didn't get too friendly with the young men in that family," he said disapprovingly. "They're quite a handful,"

"For your information, dad, Dexter is very well behaved and polite. He is a very nice guy, so don't judge him yet." I said.

"If it's the young blond boy you're talking about, I wasn't referring to him. It's the other two that I'm worried about. It took more than just me to get them down to the station the last night, Bells," he cautioned. "They were fighting down near Cleary's late at night. It was proper fighting as well, not just a brotherly tiff. It took me, Jim, Henry and two other bystanders to even get them apart. Mark my words, they are a hell of a lot stronger than they look! Big, ropey muscles on the both of them."

"Really? What was that all about?" I asked.

"I don't know. I got a call from Mrs Cleary saying that there were two men fighting outside her store. When I arrived, I couldn't get them apart so I called for backup. When I finally got them to the station for questioning, they were getting on again, saying it was just play fighting. Dr Romlan and his wife seemed pretty peeved when they were called in, but from the sounds of it you'd know it's not the first time they've been called in."

"Wow. I'll stay away. Anyway, I'm spent. 'Night, dad, see you in the morning."

"'Night, Bells," he said, returning his focus to the television.

I walked tiredly up to my room. When I got there I saw Edward sitting on my bed, reading one of my books. He looked up and smiled at me as I went to sit on his lap.

"Hello, love," he said, kissing my hair.

"Hi," I said back, throwing my arms around his neck.

"What did you think of dinner?" he asked.

"It was good. Have fun choking it up afterwards?" I said with a grin. Edward grimaced.

"As always," he said sarcastically. "So what do you think of the Romlans?"

I thought for a moment. What _did_ I think of them? I liked Dexter. I knew that, he was just great. He was fun, chatty, and just a great guy to be around. His brothers freaked me out, they both had a wild look in their eyes that made them seem unstable. And the girls… Vivian was fierce, and intense. Pandore was too sick to judge just yet.

"They seem… very nice." Edward arched one perfect eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, as curious as always.

"Well, Freyja seems lovely. Sergio comes across as a nice guy, and Dexter is just charming. But the others… I don't know. What did you think of them, seeing as you have such a better insight?"

"Well, Vince and Rocco, although it may not appear so, are very close, the term that comes to mind is _blood brothers_. Vivian is very observant, she is the only one who noticed that my family were reluctant to eating human food. She's also very protective of Pandore, for some reason. Very sisterly. And Pandore was very interesting… she's been sick for the past three days, very violently, and it definitely wasn't a flu."

"What was it then?"

"I don't know. I saw that she has been having heavy nosebleeds, and throwing up blood. Nothing I've ever seen. I was worried that she might get a bleed at dinner, but it seems that her sickness has passed. And also," he said with a smirk, "she's obsessed with Vince."

"Really? I did not notice that. But… tell me about Dexter." Edward shifted uncomfortably.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know… stuff."

"Well he likes classic rock music, and he drives an old mustang." was all he said.

"I meant what was he thinking during dinner?" I said, rolling my eyes. Edward was so obtuse sometimes.

"To be honest, Bella, he was thinking about you mostly, and how beautiful you are. It unsettled me." Edward sighed. "He wasn't thinking about you in the typical teenage boys way, like that vile Mike Newton. He was… quite sweet about. I resisted the urge to rip his throat out just about all night."

I was stunned. Dexter really thought that?

"Oh…" I mumbled. "You know it's only you that I love," I said, kicking off my trousers and climbing under the duvet. The sudden tiredness was taking over me.

"Yes, love, I am aware. I love you too. Now get some sleep."

I mumbled in agreement, and snuggled against his wintry chest.

As I drifted off to sleep, my mind wandered randomly to the first time I had spoken to Edward. It had been snowing that day, and the last thing I remembered thinking was how good Edward's hair had looked, with the snow all melted in it…

I don't know exactly when my memories turned to dreams.

All I know is that one moment I was lying in my bed with Edward, and the next I'm walking down a snowy street at night. From the dim streetlights I can see that I'm not alone. There are two tall figures walking alongside me.

One of them was wearing a hood, so I couldn't be sure who it was. But the other figure was unmistakably Sergio Romlan. He wore a grim expression, and instinctively I knew that there was something going on.

We stopped outside a hospital. I didn't catch the name of it, because my focus was turned to Sergio, who was talking quietly to the hooded figure. Their voices were hushed, but I found that if I concentrated I could hear them.

"…just let me help, Serge, I caused this. If I don't help, I'll never forgive myself. I have ruined more than one life here, I need to make this right… Please…" she sobbed. She was so vulnerable, it was strange.

"No, Vivian, you have to leave. If anyone saw you, this could get ugly. Go to the cabin in Alaska and stay there. Sort yourself out. We'll come see you when this is over, okay?" Sergio nearly hissed. The wind blew, and Vivian's hood came down, showing her beautiful russet face and long dark, slightly curling hair. But her teary eyes were different. Instead of their chocolate-chip ice-cream colour, they were now nearly pure minty green, save a bit of brown at the outer edge, shining in the pale moonlight.

"In a few hours, if you're still here, we'll have an even bigger problem. Do you want to make this worse for us? Do you want to draw attention to us? Do you?" He demanded.

"If I can't help you with her, let me go help Freyja and Roc find the male that's loose in the area. He's big, and Freyja is so fragile… Just let me help…" she pleaded.

I felt myself walk dreamily over to them. Vivian looked at me pleadingly with her teary mint eyes.

"You have to go, Vivvy." I said coldly. As soon as I heard my voice I knew who I was. I recognised the soft Californian accent. I was Dexter Romlan. "Freyja is tough, and Rocco is good at what he does. They don't need you. You can't stay."

She looked at me with resignation, turned on her heel and sprinted down the snowy street. Sergio smiled at me sadly.

The cold, dark scene dissolved around me and suddenly I was aware that I was standing in a hospital, observing the dreamlike scene of pandemonium around me. There were nurses and doctors running about franticly. I spotted Sergio speaking to another doctor, who looked incredibly stressed. I heard the words 'gruesome' and 'homicide', but they barely registered. I noted that the hospital looked slightly outdated, not quite in 2009 from the looks of the clothes on the people and the machinery. Suddenly Sergio was at my side.

"We have to be quick," he said. I followed him down an empty hallway, and we were suddenly at a door marked, 'Aceline Snow, 34A'

"She had just woken from a coma. She was expected to make a full recovery." He said in a small, melancholy voice. I put my hand on is shoulder. I felt the need to comfort him.

He opened the door to reveal a bloody scene. There was blood everywhere. On the walls, the floor, the roof… and there were shreds of bloody clothes lying on the ground, and the windows were smashed. My stomach lurched, and my head swam.

"She was only sixteen." Was all Sergio said. "Oh well, lets do this quickly. The police will be here soon."

I woke up screaming.


	5. Chapter 5

"What's wrong?" Edward, said urgently, as I gasped for breath.

That was such a vivid dream… could I really have thought of that all by myself? No, no way. Could I?

"Nightmare," I mumbled into his icy shoulder.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

I explained to him about my dream, about the Romulans, and the bloody hospital room. He just looked at me with pursed lips. Saying my dream out loud somehow reinforced my belief that it was all real. But that was impossible. But it was so strong and clear, how could it not have been real?

"Bella, it was just a dream," he comforted me. "It's not real…"

"Okay, it was just a stupid dream…" I murmured. I glanced at my bedside clock. It read 3.32am. "I should really get back to sleep."

I lay in bed, but I didn't sleep. I lay thinking about my dream. Something definitely wasn't right with the Romulans… but what? Had Vivian killed a young Aceline Snow by accident? Dreams weren't usually as specific as to give names…

I had a flash of inspiration. I shot up into a sitting position.

"What's wrong?" Edward said worriedly. "did you have another nightmare?"

"No, I need the computer. Go switch it on, I wont be able to sleep if I don't check something."

Edward was suddenly sitting at my desk, switching on my ancient computer. I went to the bathroom to fetch a glass of water as he set up. I studied myself in the mirror as I heard him connecting to the modem. I looked dreadful. Pale skin, dark rings under my eyes… if I were more beautiful, I may have passed for a vampire.

"Bella?" Edward whispered. "What do you want to search?"

"Aceline Snow. It was the name on the bloody room."

I heard the keys being tapped, and then Edwards sharp intake of breath.

"Bella, come here quick." he said. I rushed in and looked at the screen. My blood ran cold.

He was looking at a newspaper article from 2004, in the a newspaper from New York.

_Police have no leads concerning the whereabouts of the body of sixteen-year-old Aceline Snow. _

_Miss Snow had been in a coma for three months after a car crash which killed the two other passengers in the car. Geoff Brethen, 16, and Jamie Lane, 18, both died, Brethen in hospital several hours later, and the driver, Lane, on impact. _

_It was considered a miracle that Snow woke from her coma. She suffered blunt force trauma to the skull and probable brain damage. She awoke, but was still in a critical condition, when disaster struck once again, two nights after Aceline awoke from her coma. _

_Snow was presumably asleep, as her parents had left for the night, when an unidentified assailant entered the room. It is unknown what happened that night, but it has baffled police. _

_There was no sign of forced entry, but the windows from the 4th floor room were smashed. Blood was sprayed across the room in a violent manner, and shreds of the victims clothes lay on the floor, hinting at a sexual assault. _

_The body was nowhere to be seen. _

_Aceline Snow was a popular student at Saint Brenden high. She had good grades, and was loved by students and teachers alike. This arouses the question: who would do this?_

"_We believe that it was a hate crime," chief of police Edd Tollett says, "there was a lot of scandal surrounding the circumstances of the crash that killed two of Miss Snow's friends. Some felt bitter that their loved ones had perished and Aceline was alowed live. There are undergoing interviews with the people connected to the deceased teenagers, to see if any information was missed in the initial investigation. So far, there has been no luck."_

_It has been three weeks since Aceline disappearance. There is no doubt that she is dead, but her family still urge anyone with information to come forward._

"_We just want the body of our daughter," sobbed Aceline's mother, Mary. "We just want to give her a proper burial." _

_Anyone with information is urged to contact Harlem Police station at…._

I stopped reading. I felt as if my stomach was filled with frogs, and my head was spinning.

"They never found her," Edward said. "That was five years ago."

My ears started ringing. My vision went blurry.

Before I knew it, everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

"What's wrong?" Edward, said urgently, as I gasped for breath.

That was such a vivid dream… could I really have thought of that all by myself? No, no way. Could I?

"Nightmare," I mumbled into his icy shoulder.

"Do you want to tell me about it?"

I explained to him about my dream, about the Romulans, and the bloody hospital room. He just looked at me with pursed lips. Saying my dream out loud somehow reinforced my belief that it was all real. But that was impossible. But it was so strong and clear, how could it not have been real?

"Bella, it was just a dream," he comforted me. "It's not real…"

"Okay, it was just a stupid dream…" I murmured. I glanced at my bedside clock. It read 3.32am. "I should really get back to sleep."

I lay in bed, but I didn't sleep. I lay thinking about my dream. Something definitely wasn't right with the Romulans… but what? Had Vivian killed a young Aceline Snow by accident? Dreams weren't usually as specific as to give names…

I had a flash of inspiration. I shot up into a sitting position.

"What's wrong?" Edward said worriedly. "did you have another nightmare?"

"No, I need the computer. Go switch it on, I wont be able to sleep if I don't check something."

Edward was suddenly sitting at my desk, switching on my ancient computer. I went to the bathroom to fetch a glass of water as he set up. I studied myself in the mirror as I heard him connecting to the modem. I looked dreadful. Pale skin, dark rings under my eyes… if I were more beautiful, I may have passed for a vampire.

"Bella?" Edward whispered. "What do you want to search?"

"Aceline Snow. It was the name on the bloody room."

I heard the keys being tapped, and then Edwards sharp intake of breath.

"Bella, come here quick." he said. I rushed in and looked at the screen. My blood ran cold.

He was looking at a newspaper article from 2004, in the a newspaper from New York.

_Police have no leads concerning the whereabouts of the body of sixteen-year-old Aceline Snow. _

_Miss Snow had been in a coma for three months after a car crash which killed the two other passengers in the car. Geoff Brethen, 16, and Jamie Lane, 18, both died, Brethen in hospital several hours later, and the driver, Lane, on impact. _

_It was considered a miracle that Snow woke from her coma. She suffered blunt force trauma to the skull and probable brain damage. She awoke, but was still in a critical condition, when disaster struck once again, two nights after Aceline awoke from her coma. _

_Snow was presumably asleep, as her parents had left for the night, when an unidentified assailant entered the room. It is unknown what happened that night, but it has baffled police. _

_There was no sign of forced entry, but the windows from the 4th floor room were smashed. Blood was sprayed across the room in a violent manner, and shreds of the victims clothes lay on the floor, hinting at a sexual assault. _

_The body was nowhere to be seen. _

_Aceline Snow was a popular student at Saint Brenden high. She had good grades, and was loved by students and teachers alike. This arouses the question: who would do this?_

"_We believe that it was a hate crime," chief of police Edd Tollett says, "there was a lot of scandal surrounding the circumstances of the crash that killed two of Miss Snow's friends. Some felt bitter that their loved ones had perished and Aceline was alowed live. There are undergoing interviews with the people connected to the deceased teenagers, to see if any information was missed in the initial investigation. So far, there has been no luck."_

_It has been three weeks since Aceline disappearance. There is no doubt that she is dead, but her family still urge anyone with information to come forward._

"_We just want the body of our daughter," sobbed Aceline's mother, Mary. "We just want to give her a proper burial." _

_Anyone with information is urged to contact Harlem Police station at…._

I stopped reading. I felt as if my stomach was filled with frogs, and my head was spinning.

"They never found her," Edward said. "That was five years ago."

My ears started ringing. My vision went blurry.

Before I knew it, everything went black.


End file.
